"Swing Alone is a very good horse and this is his final run before he comes over to France for the Grand Prix, the big race in Cagnes-Sur-Mer on February 22 worth 76 grand. That's his main aim.

"He's been working well and has come on for his run. He couldn't be better."

Mark Johnson feels the handicapper has been harsh on Blue Wave, who has won his last two starts. The first was over this course and distance and the second came at Southwell.

"Obviously he won very well last time, but he has gone up 10lb in the handicap so I would have preferred to run him by Friday and taken advantage of the penalty," said the Middleham trainer.

"As we saw on Thursday with Hunting Ground, some of these great hikes on the all-weather aren't justified. When they win by wide margins on the all-weather it is not always indicative of requiring that sort of rise.

"It's hard to tell, but it's a good prize-money race and this was the only opportunity for him."